Sayfo; Village of Kharabe-Mishka

Village of Kharabe-Mishka 

The village of Kharabe-Mishka is located in the Nisibin district, situated near the Monastery of Mor Malke on Mount Izlo.

Before the onset of the general massacres in 1915, Kharabe-Mishka was inhabited by approximately 200 Syriac Orthodox Christians. As the violence against Christians intensified in the Nisibin region, the inhabitants of Kharabe-Mishka were forced to abandon their homes and properties to seek protection within the fortified complex of the nearby Monastery of Mor Malke. Specific records of resistance during the 1915 genocide indicate that twenty families from Kharabe-Mishka successfully reached and reinforced the defenders at the village of Beth Debe (Badibe) on Mount Izlo. These families participated in a sustained defense that lasted for fifteen days and nights in August 1915 against a large force of Kurdish tribes, which included the Hajo, Ali Batte, Doman, Chumaran, Dayre, Surgechi, Bunusra, Omaran, and Alike tribes, as well as units of the Nisibin militia commanded by the perpetrator Qaddur Bey. The combined forces of the Syriac defenders at Beth Debe, which included the Kharabe-Mishka contingent and reinforcements from the Mor Malke monastery, successfully repelled the attackers. After the Kurdish tribes retreated around the holiday of Saint Mary in mid-August, the survivors from Kharabe-Mishka returned to the sanctuary of the Mor Malke monastery. There is no provided information regarding the fate of the village's clergy or the status of the Church of Mor Heworo following these events.